OK, here goes.
I don't know anyone on the forum personally. I haven't made many posts, but have spent a lot of time reading the posts and have learned a lot about e-bodies. You guys have helped me out a lot in answering my sometimes not-real-smart questions. I appreciate that. My cars are turning out for the better because of the info you guys have taken the time to provide.
Women can make friends over nothing more than a cup of coffee. Guys usually make friends based around a common interest. I kid my wife in saying that guys need to base their friendships around killing things or blowing things up. There are women on this forum that would probably understand this exactly. Nod your heads.
I have a lot of interests and passions besides these cars. I have formed friendships with cars as the catalyst, but soon you are talking about everything else- raising kids, politics, marital stuff, etc. I would not want to not know how people felt about the real important stuff in life. These cars are just sheet metal. That's why I think the off-topic section is really important. That seems where you could get to know the other members. It's where you can "let your guard down", and discuss what is happening in your life, the world, and any other stuff you feel passionate about. You can get on any number of forums and discuss politcs, abortion, etc., but when you are doing this with people you already have some credibility with and a common denominator with (the cars) it allows for a lot of give and take. I have seen you guys lose your digital tempers, apologize, and others say "that's cool, no problem". That's worth a lot. I would hate to see off-topics nixed or it's content restricted.
But, there are certain things that should be laid down as ground rules for the forums (if they aren't already somewhere). Name calling, racial stuff, slandering someone's country should elicit a PM from the moderator(s). Repeat violators shoud be banned from participation either for a period of time or permanently, if that is possible. Not sure how this forum is set up to do that sort of thing. I avoid the "hot babes" section because that stuff seems high-schoolish to me. People could avoid the off-topics forum as well for their own personal reasons if they were annoyed or offended by what went on there.
Anyway, that's my two cents.